


let's dance

by suzuyaaaaa



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, F/M, First Love, Light Angst, Marriage, Sisters, Spoilers, Weddings, sister focus B)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21731062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzuyaaaaa/pseuds/suzuyaaaaa
Summary: (parts of) the story of persona 5, her sister, and the trickster through the eyes of niijima sae.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Sae/OC
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	let's dance

**Author's Note:**

> yes im posting this at 3:30 in da morning and no i give no frigs. i started this last yr and finished it like last month and it has been a DOOZY!!! i've been wanting to post again for a while cuz i love seeing comments cuz it motivates me AND this is the longest piece i've ever written so i'm super proud!!! :)
> 
> i can't remember why i decided to write this but i do think it was interesting just writing things from sae's POV bc it's never thought of a lot. love her very very much and happy i could give her a voice of her own :) im still nitpicking at this a lot but at some point u gotta say FUCK IT and just do it!!
> 
> non-beta read cuz i asked friends but then i felt bad cuz this is so long and they don't ship shumako :c but pls enjoy!!!

“Sis, let’s dance!” Sae glances up from her English homework and sees Makoto standing in the doorframe, her favorite motorcycle toy clenched in her sweaty fingers. She bounces on the tips of her toes and plays with the hem of her blue dungaree dress, garnet eyes sparkling.

Makoto runs into the room and grabs Sae’s hand, knocking the pencil out of her grip and onto the floor. “Daddy wants you in the living room!” she pouts.

Sae sighs, getting out of her seat and smoothing a hand over Makoto’s short hair. “Dad has never gone to Shujin, Mako-chan.”

“Siiiiis, Daddy says we’re having a dance party,” Makoto huffs. She tugs impatiently on Sae with one hand and fumbles with her motorcycle in the other, the toy falling out of her tiny fingers. Sae is quicker than gravity, catching the bike before it hits the floor. Makoto scrunches up her nose and stomps a little socked foot when Sae hands her back the toy.

Sae breaks out into a smile when Makoto’s brows furrow closer together in determination, and after a few more insistent tugs, she nods and pushes the chair back into the desk. Little sisters never wait, after all. Makoto seemingly vibrates when Sae closes her notebooks and directs her full attention to her younger sister. “Lead the way!” Sae exclaims. Makoto straightens up and nods like a soldier, determined to fulfill her responsibility.

Dad bought the dance game that both of the sisters have been wanting for the past week. The family dances the night away, and Sae _kills it_ , grinding Dad into dust. He complains that his body’s too used to The Life Of A Police Officer, so how could he win against such a young, blossoming woman? Sae laughs him off every time and shoots a sharp comeback off of her silver tongue.

Makoto flails everywhere for a bit, not quite used to moving her limbs like the dancer moves hers onscreen, but she’s stubborn and copies to the best of her ability. Sae relaxes on the effort because Makoto _hates_ losing more than she hates the color pink – the look on her little sister’s face is worth more than one million first places combined. But Makoto tells her to stop holding back, and Sae remembers how perceptive Makoto actually is for being so little.

When Makoto falls asleep on the couch after Sae and Dad have a final dance-off, Sae groans when she remembers the sheer amount of work she hasn’t finished. It’s not due tomorrow, but she wanted to get a head start on this week’s work so she could study for exams. She trails behind her family with heavy steps while Dad carries Makoto down the hall. He reaches out a hand and tousles Sae’s hair. “Take a break every once in a while, sweetie,” he whispers, hoisting Makoto up higher so she won’t fall off of him, “or you’ll burn out. It’s okay to slow down.”

Sae beams with pride and tells him she’ll try to remember his advice, and Dad grins like a little boy, bright and hopeful with a smile too big for his face. He kisses her forehead before she heads into her room, and Sae whips out her phone to snap a picture of Makoto, cheek squished against Dad’s shoulder.

They should have dance nights more often.

* * *

“Sis!” Sae whirls around at Makoto’s call, her only warning before her sister barrels into her, arms wrapping around her waist in a tight hug. “Congratulations,” Makoto whispers into Sae’s chest, and Sae chuckles at how wet Makoto’s voice sounds.

She hugs Makoto back tightly, diploma clutched in one hand. She’s graduated at the top of her class, and she’s going off to _college._ Just the thought of it makes Sae squeal internally, and she holds Makoto even closer. Someone tackles the pair from behind, and Sae laughs when Dad sets them off balance, leaving the trio to wobble around the former third year class until they’re standing again.

Dad pulls away and stands next to Makoto, who sniffles into her hand and wipes her face. “I am _so_ proud of you, honey,” Dad says, and Sae almost bursts into tears.

Dad takes them out to Sae’s favorite restaurant, and Makoto’s curiosity eats her up as she asks Sae about high school and college. She’s only eleven, but Sae knows Makoto is eager to skip junior high. When they get home, Dad covers Sae’s eyes while Makoto scurries inside, and when his calloused hands disappear, Sae hears the telltale _click_ of the lightswitch and Makoto’s “Surprise!” 

There’s a homemade banner saying “Congratulations, Sae-chan!” hanging over the dining table with a huge bouquet of yellow roses and lavender blooming underneath. They eat cake, and Dad pulls out the dance game they haven’t touched since _last year_.

All the hard work she’s put into Shujin has finally culminated into one shining achievement. Everything is going to finally pay off. She’ll be able to make Dad and Makoto proud. As Makoto whoops again when she wins yet another round, she realizes that she can’t remember the last time she felt this happy, a warmth settling over her like a big hug.

* * *

Sae is on the train back home for the evening when her phone rings out into the cold silence, and she frowns at Makoto’s name. Her sister strictly texts because it’s what every fourteen-year-old does; Sae’s nerves set off and her pulse speeds up with uncertainty.

Sae taps the answer button and brings the phone up under her mane of hair, eyeing the current stop and walking out of the train so she can make her transfer. “Hey, is everything alright-” she begins, stopping herself when she hears sniffling through the speaker. The bustle of the station fades away as Makoto practically sobs into the receiver, the beginning of words cut off by tears. “Makoto, what happened? Are you hurt?” Sae’s heart leaps into her throat at the thought of someone harming her sister. She only just started aikido; she’s not proficient enough to take down anyone at this point.

Sae speeds through the station while pressing the phone into her cheek, knuckles turning white as she waits for her sister’s reply. Just as Sae swipes her card and nearly pulls her phone away to check her reception, Makoto’s voice floats out like a ghost’s whisper. “Dad’s dead.”

The world shuts off, a black void as Makoto’s words echo in her head, tinny and broken and unbelievable. “S-Sis?” she croaks, whimpering at Sae’s silence. “T-There’s police here. T-They need... an adult. I c-can’t talk to them, b-but I think...”

“I’ll be there soon,” Sae interrupts, hot tears saturating her lashes in grief and beginning to drip down into the crease of her lips. Before Makoto can say anything else, Sae hangs up and shoves her phone into her bag. Everything is dull in her ears as she navigates her way to the Ginza line by muscle memory. Makoto’s voice plays in her mind until the words don’t sound real. Dad’s dead. Dad’s dead. _Dad’s dead_.

The house is blue and black, almost as bruised as Sae feels. Dad’s coworkers stand together in a little pack, and Makoto sits on the couch, eyes shining like marbles as she plays with her fingers to hold her emotions back. Makoto has always hated showing too much of herself in front of anyone. 

“Niijima-san?” someone asks from behind Sae. She glances over her shoulder at another aged man, another generic face. She’s never been called Niijima-san by an adult before. That’s her father’s name. _Was_ her father’s name.

He died in the line of duty that day in a hit and run. The truck belonged to some gang, or the scum of society as far as Sae is concerned. The man offers his deepest condolences, assures her that they will keep investigating, and brought over Dad’s squad in case she wanted to speak to them; Sae dismisses them with a glare and a cold voice. Makoto curls into herself as the men file out, and the door shuts with a resounding _click._

The silence lies thick between them like blood, pumping in their ears and tainting the house with death. Sae slowly walks into the living room and gazes down at Makoto, but Makoto’s buried her face between her kneecaps, shoulders shuddering with sobs. Sae sits next to her and stares at the glass coffee table. The moonlight shines and defines its edges; it’s sharp like a knife.

Makoto turns towards Sae and hugs her close, and Sae can imagine a barrage of questions. Truthfully, she doesn’t have any answers; her thoughts are too messy to even think of one. She embraces Makoto regardless in hopes that she can reassure her through just her hands, but really, what the hell is she doing?

“You should go to bed,” Sae eventually whispers into her sister’s hair, placing a gentle kiss under her bangs and squeezing her a little tighter. Makoto weeps more in reply and shakes her head, but Sae only extracts herself. Her face is still as dry as when she first arrived, and Makoto stares at her with a mixture of confusion and awe. “We’ll talk about it in the morning. I have a lot of legal things to work through tomorrow,” Sae continues, holding Makoto’s hands and rubbing her thumbs over pale knuckles.

After a few minutes, Makoto reluctantly stands. Her feet shuffle over the carpet as she trudges towards the hallway. Just when Sae thinks Makoto has snuck into her room for the night, she hears her voice slice through the quiet. “You aren’t the only one who has to... to stay strong. We’ll be strong f-for each other.” There’s the creak of a door opening and the click of it shutting for the evening, and suddenly, Sae is alone with her thoughts.

She finally breaks, whimpering quietly into the dark before crying, crying, _crying_ with everything she’s been holding in since Makoto’s call.

She hates humanity. She hates everything it stands for, hates that something like this could happen when it clearly shouldn’t have. She hates that everything sounds better in theory than in practice. She hates criminals more than she ever has before. She hates Dad’s killer with her entire soul.

Her vision turns red as she throws a cushion against the wall, teeth grinding together as she tries to wrap her head around the sheer injustice of it all. She will avenge her father. She will make sure that criminals are given what they deserve. She will make sure that _nothing_ like this ever happens again to any other innocent person.

She will be the judge of it all, and she will ensure that justice is served.

* * *

Sae has decided that she never, _ever_ wants children. They take up so much money and time that could be used for literally anything else.

The Niijimas grew up quickly by force; there wasn’t any other choice. For the most part, Makoto plays the role that Sae did. She excels in and out of school, taking a crack at the school newspaper and working part-time in a beef bowl shop. She even becomes Student Council President. Makoto is a hard worker, honest and clear like a ringing bell, and Sae can see that she’s growing up well, though not by her hand.

Makoto’s future is bright and high; all she has to do is keep up her grades and get into a top-notch university, hopefully on a hefty scholarship as well. Only then will she be able to succeed given their financial situation. Sae works long, _long_ hours every day for average pay, coming home in the dead of night to Makoto’s amateur dinners and quiet, sisterly conversation. Sae knows she’s good at her job, but her work is dominated by the patriarchy, and gaining respect is almost as hard as winning her cases. Her justice never rests, but the real question is if her body can keep up with it.

Life is difficult as a pseudo-single mother. There’s no point in sugar-coating it. She barely has enough free time as it is with her job, but with Makoto needing shelter for the next three years, all Sae can think about is providing so that she can survive and so that Makoto can thrive. The only thing Makoto needs to worry about is herself. After all, she’s only seventeen, a child.

Everything is bearable until the mental shutdowns. Actually, everything is bearable up until the Phantom Thieves show up to steal hearts. Every time Sae looks at their calling cards, she wants to pound her head through her desk. Who even _thinks_ stuff like this, much less says it? It’s all mushy gushy like melted ice cream, a naive conception of what justice really is. Sae understands where they’re coming from, but the Thieves base their justice on individual morals. Morals are all subjective. The law clearly defines them for society, and they’re going by their guts instead. For all the SIU knows, the Thieves may think that the mental shutdown victims have done some Kamoshida-level crimes and have killed them in the name of their “justice.” Even so, the public would likely go along with it. The police already look like incompetence incarnate compared to these vigilantes.

Nobody can _really_ help Sae besides maybe Akechi, but even though he’s smart enough to be a detective, this is Sae’s burden. She wants to figure out these Phantom Thieves and shutdowns for herself even if it drives her insane.

Whenever Makoto asks her about work, her heart twists in her chest. Sae knows Makoto means well, knows that Makoto would try to help her in any way she could, but would she even be able to understand? Makoto stays in to study and dedicates herself to academia. How would she know about the streets when she’s barely on them in the first place?

One night, Makoto brings up the Phantom Thieves over dinner. Her voice wavers as she dips her toes into something deeper than just life at Shujin and Sae’s complaints about coworkers, and normally, Sae would let Makoto brush it off. But, something in Makoto’s voice piques her interest, and she smiles softly to draw Makoto out of her shell.

Then, she spews out some idyllic pondering if Dad would support the group, and Sae frowns before she can stop herself. Makoto winces and looks away, hides her eyes under her bangs, pushes her food around her plate like a _baby._ “The only reason you have time to think about that is because you depend on someone else,” she blurts out harshly.

Makoto’s eyes widen while she tries to backtrack, stuttering out a “That’s not–” as Sae stabs a chopstick through a sliced carrot. Before she knows it, Sae begins rambling off all her criticisms of Makoto’s point of view because _how could anyone be so naive?_ Makoto has a home, clothes, and food all waiting at her feet, yet she wastes her precious time dwelling on stupid hypotheticals instead of things that actually _matter._

“Would Dad have been happy with them? I don’t _care._ ”

“A-All I was trying to say was–”

“Isn’t it about time you grew up and acknowledged our situation?!” Sae yells, clenching her utensils with a tight fist. Makoto shrinks back into her seat, but Sae couldn’t care less. She’s exploding right here, right now; it’s too late to stop. “Right now, you’re _useless_ to me. All you do is eat away at my life.”

Makoto gasps and drops her chopsticks, and that’s when Sae feels even an inkling of remorse. Silence descends upon them, uncomfortable and stuffy like the summer heat outside their windows. Sae pointedly doesn’t look Makoto in the eyes, knowing she won’t be able to deal with the hurt she sees. She needed to hear that. She needed to _grow up._ “Sorry, that was uncalled for. I’m just... really tired.” Sae almost scoffs out loud at herself. What a pathetic reply.

When Sae looks up, the heartbreak brewing under Makoto’s crimson gaze is too much. Her eyes are just like Dad’s, fiery and warm, and suddenly, this house is insufferable and suffocating. “I’ll be eating dinner out from tomorrow on,” she says before she can stop herself, and Makoto gasps again with a visible shudder. Sae can’t stay in this house any longer than she needs to. The longer she’s inside, the more she’s haunted by her memories, the looming responsibility of Makoto’s wellbeing, the ghost of their father living in her sister. It’s _too much_.

Makoto doesn’t talk for the rest of the evening, and she shrinks further into her seat when Sae glances up at her. She slouches as she stands up, eyes cast down as she clears the table and washes the dishes. Sae would try to comfort her, but there’s no point. She didn’t mean to say _any_ of that, but was there any other way to catalyze Makoto’s growth? It _had_ to happen. Adversity yields metamorphosis, says a voice that sounds too much like Akechi in the back of her mind.

That’s what she tells herself, but she can’t fall asleep that night after she hears Makoto’s muffled sobs through their thin walls.

* * *

Sae barely sees Makoto around the house, only catching glimpses during their tense breakfasts and before Makoto goes to sleep. She still waits up to make sure Sae gets home safely, but something has shifted. A wide abyss of separation runs between them. She doesn’t ask Makoto what she’s doing at Shujin, and for the most part, Makoto doesn’t talk about the Phantom Thieves anymore.

This isolation is exactly what Sae needs – now, she can actually direct more of her focus on her cases. This is what they both need, time to think and reflect and go about their own lives. It’s almost like practice for when Makoto moves away for college. Her metamorphosis has started, or at least she hopes it has, and Sae is willing to give her sister all the space she needs to truly blossom.

The day she has a real conversation with Makoto again is the day that Kaneshiro Junya turns himself in. Sae arrives home early, and she trudges into the living to see her sister avidly watching the screen, the ghost of a smile dancing over her lips. “I’m home,” Sae huffs out, eyes following Makoto’s sharp gaze.

“Welcome home, Sis,” Makoto replies, soft and sweet and proper, and Sae holds back a groan. She’s the same as always. Sae looks back up at the screen and scowls at the sight of Kaneshiro’s chubby face taking up the television. The wealthy leader of such a complex crime network, one that even the police couldn’t properly stop, shouldn’t have been compelled to give that all up. She tells Makoto as much and clenches her hands into fists at how illogical the outcome is. “Why does it matter? The police caught him in the end, right?” Makoto asks.

Sae glares down at her sister whose eyes shine hopefully like only a student’s can. How has she still retain such optimism when students at her own school were his victims, when she _saw_ what he was capable of doing? Crime never works out this beautifully; Kaneshiro is only an exception. “I had plans for a promotion, but no one can take credit for his arrest now with that confession,” she explains, and Makoto frowns. Sae rolls her eyes. “Not that a child would understand.” She expects Makoto’s face to collapse, but instead, she remains completely stoic, a rebellious gleam in her stare as she watches Sae leave.

Maybe it’s because summer break is nearly upon them and the student council is unoccupied, but Makoto lingers around her more than before. She strikes up more small talk, and when Sae snaps every now and then, her sister doesn’t shrink away. If anything, she tries to stand up a little more and defend her point, though she usually drops the topic after some strained banter. It’s not much, but _something_ has changed.

When the night of the summer festival rolls around, that’s when Sae knows for certain that something has flipped. “Sis, do I look alright?” Makoto calls from her room, and her feet slap down the hallway until she stands in the foyer. Sae turns around in her chair and takes her sister in, eyes widening at the pretty ivory yukata with bright vermillion flowers blooming all over the sleeves and front. A big golden sash wraps around her waist, and she holds a little white drawstring sack for her belongings. Makoto always dresses in cool colors, so seeing a blush of red-orange brings life to her entire being.

Makoto rocks on her heels like she used to do when she was a child, and the image of a younger Makoto in a purple yukata floods Sae’s mind. “You look beautiful,” she begins, smile widening as Makoto beams, “but I thought you never liked wearing yukatas.”

Makoto plays with a lock of dark hair between her pale fingers. “Yes, when I was ten and they were too big for me,” she replies, sighing when Sae chuckles. She smooths out the fabric and turns to the mirror next to the door, and Sae hums while Makoto plays with her bangs. “I’m wearing this for the festival, and so are my friends. I wanted an excuse to dress up.”

“Are you sure you’re not wearing it to impress someone else?” Sae asks in a moment of impulsive courage, testing to see if enough tension has melted away to the point where she can tease. Makoto’s fingers freeze up, and she splutters and stares back at Sae in disbelief, cheeks flushing a bright crimson. _Oh?_

Makoto waves her hands in front of her frantically, scrunching up her nose in disdain. “ _Of course not!_ ” she exclaims, but that only makes Sae laugh a little more. Makoto huffs and casts her gaze downwards before glaring up at Sae through her lashes. “W-We all agreed to wear this beforehand! Before Akira and Yu–”

“ _Akira?_ ” Sae taunts, sauntering out of her chair and up to her sister. Makoto rolls her eyes and steps closer towards the door, but before Sae can corner her, she remembers something from the beginning of the year. “Wait,” she calls out, resting a hand on Makoto’s shoulder, “is this Kurusu Akira? The _delinquent?_ ” Makoto sags at her sudden chilly tone, and Sae thinks she even looks a bit annoyed. Sae crosses her arms and leans over her to take advantage of their height difference. “Makoto, you shouldn’t be seeing people like him,” she lectures as Makoto clenches her jaw. “You have everything planned out. Why let him ruin it-”

“Akira isn’t going to ruin my future, _Sis_ ,” Makoto retaliates without hesitation, fire burning red under brown as she levels with Sae. The nickname shoots off her tongue like a bullet. “My future is in my control.” Sae blinks in surprise and waits for Makoto to start apologizing, but the younger Niijima only scoffs. “He’s a good person. He’s kind and funny and _normal._ You of all people should know that people aren’t just what you hear about them.” Sae watches Makoto grow taller, defending this kid with fierce determination.

Sae can’t find it in herself to argue back, not when Makoto isn’t letting the topic roll off their shoulders like ocean waves. After a few minutes, Makoto sighs and brushes some hair behind her ear, revealing blushing red against chestnut. “I’m wearing this for me, but... it would be nice for others to notice, too,” she mutters under her breath, and Sae’s heart sighs in sympathy.

Sae reaches out and fixes Makoto’s hair, brushing down strays and positioning her bangs how she knows her sister likes it. She doesn’t want to encourage this at all. While she doesn’t know the exact details of Kurusu’s case, she does know that he was charged with _assault_. Even with a past in aikido, Sae worries that Makoto would hesitate to use it on someone she cares about. 

However, Makoto’s eyes are two bright amber gems, her cheeks are flushed with excitement, and infatuation is right there on her lips. Her feelings are subtle but simmering under her skin now that Sae knows to look for it. She opts to stay silent and shake her head in resignation, even when every fiber of her body tells her to stop this at all costs — but then Makoto smiles at her with gratitude, eyes squinting shut. She smiles like Dad. And Sae's quiet regrets and desperation to save their crumbling sisterhood overpowers anything else.

Sae watches the fireworks over the edge of her laptop, the kaleidoscope of sparks like a glimpse of heaven in the dark. They remind her of the festivals she went to during high school. When she hears the beginnings of a summer storm, she frowns as the lights fade away, and she sinks into her seat for Makoto. She spent a long time up in her room before she left. Hopefully, the yukata won’t be wrecked when she comes home.

Before Sae knows it, she hears a commotion outside the door. Her blood runs cold when she hears Makoto’s soprano voice tinkle like windchimes followed by a deeper baritone. Sae slinks over and presses an ear to the door, careful to watch the lock in case it starts jiggling. “Thank you for walking with me. You really didn’t have to,” Makoto says. Sae can _hear_ the blush on her cheeks, and she wants to bang her forehead into the wall. Teenagers are so, _so_ awkward.

“It’s fine. The only one waiting for me is Morgana,” the other voice says. Sae presses further into the wood at the sound. Is this Kurusu? He sounds too suave like he knows exactly what he’s doing. Makoto literally _giggles_ , laugh falling like piano keys, and whoever he is laughs too.

Sae can’t help herself and sticks an eye at the peephole. Makoto would be pissed beyond belief, but Sae has a right. Makoto gazes up at a tall, skinny boy with the messiest hair Sae’s seen in her life and a face sharp like a cat’s. It’s that kid she sometimes sees working the counters at Leblanc. Sae scrunches her nose because _how did he get a job?_

He smiles down at her like any girl would want to be smiled at, teeth shining in the moonlight. She gets why Makoto would fall for him. He has that special teenage charisma, like Akechi but less of a crowd-pleaser and more of a shadow-lurker.

Makoto sighs and looks out towards the street, and his smile fades into a line while his eyebrows draw together. “Are you still thinking about Kaneshiro?” he asks out of nowhere. Sae’s heart leaps out of her mouth.

Makoto looks back up at him with stars in her eyes and shakes her head, looking down towards his chest. “No, nothing like that. I’m just glad he’s no longer a problem. Hopefully, nothing happens at Shujin for a while,” she puffs out. Sae watches his shoulders sag as his smile returns, and he reaches up to rub Makoto’s shoulder. She wears Dad’s smile when she says, “I don’t think I’ve been this fulfilled in a while. I think that’s it.”

The boy’s face lights up, and he suddenly pulls Makoto in. Sae can hear Makoto gasp, but she’s already melting into the embrace. Sae’s chest twists — she can’t remember the last time she hugged her sister.

Makoto buries her face in his shoulder and wraps her arms around him with a sort of ease and comfort that infatuated teenagers don’t have around crushes. Sae sees Makoto’s mouth move; whatever she says is too soft to make out, but he smiles softly and whispers something back. Sae moves away from the door, guilt settling in her stomach for invading the moment.

Sae settles back down at the dining table by the time Makoto starts fiddling with the door. She glances at her rain-kissed sister over her shoulder and catches a glimpse of the boy walking away. Makoto shuts the door and flips on the light switch, blinking in surprise when she sees Sae staring at her. “I’m home,” Makoto says airily. She waves a hand in her direction and slips off her sandals, and the floor creaks under her weight while she walks over to Sae. “Did you see the fireworks?”

“Mm, I did. I’m sorry that the festival ended early,” Sae replies with genuine sincerity, and Makoto shrugs. She places her bag on the dining table and collapses into a chair next to her. Sae watches her, face in the palm of her hand. “Who was that?” she asks before she can stop herself.

Makoto peeks up at her through a curtain of brown before sitting up. “Akira,” she replies simply, playing with her fingers. Sae’s eyebrows rise.

Sae finds herself tousling Makoto’s hair, and despite her conscience telling her that no, she shouldn’t allow this to continue, she’s never seen Makoto like this _._ “He looks like a bad boy,” Sae says absentmindedly, snickering when Makoto buries her face in her hands and murmurs something about how it’s only just his hair. Sae leans back in her seat, closes her laptop, and rises to go to bed with it in tow. “Makoto,” she calls over her shoulder, “I trust you’ll be careful.” The word ‘trust’ feels foreign on her tongue.

She meets Makoto’s stare right after, and her sister’s eyes are wide in surprise. “O-Of course, Sis.” Sae nods and turns towards the hallways. “Thank you.” She freezes in her steps and listens to Makoto’s words ring out into the quiet house, brighter than the lights over their heads. For a moment, Sae wonders how Dad would’ve handled this.

Sae turns over her shoulder one last time and smiles as wide as she can, pushing down cynicism and focusing on the blush watercoloring Makoto’s cheeks. “Anytime, casanova,” she gushes, reveling in how Makoto rolls her head back and hangs over the edge of her chair. Sae turns down the hall and towards her room, yelling out, “Sweep him off his feet!”

She snickers when she hears the volume of Makoto’s groan and her frustrated “You didn’t even use casanova properly!”

* * *

“Have a good night, Niijima-san!” Akechi calls over his shoulder, the doors closing with a _thud_ as he leaves the building. Sae watches the detective fade into the Tokyo dark before immersing herself back in screen glow, sinking deeper into the lobby’s couch. Aside from a few other masochistic workers like herself, Sae is essentially alone in the building, or at least on the ground floor. There’s nobody waiting for her at home since Makoto left to chaperone a school trip. This is her last evening to stay as late as she wants before Makoto flies home.

Sae holds back a yawn and struggles to see the text on her laptop through sleepy tears. The case folders for the Phantom Thieves’ past victims and the mental shutdowns lay scattered across the cushions, papers and information blending together in a dull stream of crime. She doesn’t know what she’s looking for aside from something, _anything,_ to make a breakthrough about the Thieves and their methods. She’s certain that everything connects, but _how_ it does is an entirely different question. If she can figure out the how, not only would it finally close the case, but she could be able to finally get ahead in her position after remaining in a dead-end for ages.

Sae slams her laptop shut as her frustration overrides the ability to think clearly. She pulls out her phone to confirm that yes, the company clock is right, she’ll probably get four to five hours of sleep _again,_ when a message notification rings out into the silence. Sae squints at the white box and swipes with a purple nail, packing up files in a daze.

 ** _Imouto_ ** _ > Can I call you? _

Sae chews on her lip and glances around to make sure that the room is completelyempty. She quickly shoves the papers into folders and stalks out of the SIU with them crunched in her bag, and she dials Makoto’s number. The phone rings tauntingly for a few seconds, but she hears her sister’s soft greeting soon after. “Did something happen? Are you flying home early?” Sae spews without a second thought. She speeds down the sidewalk towards the subway with the phone pressed into her cheek, clammy palm struggling to keep its hold on the device. Her feet drag behind her while her mind tries to wake up for Makoto; the subway seems to get farther away while her panic rises.

“No, no, not at all! I have to be up this early anyway,” Makoto cries out. Sae comes to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk as relief waterfalls over her. She can practically hear Makoto shaking her head as she laughs softly into the receiver. “I just wanted to tell you about... something that happened. Or, ask for advice since I figured you’d be up. Sorry for making you worry.”

Sae chuckles wearily and wipes her brow, fingers heavy against her forehead. “You know me too well. It’s my fault for being assuming the worst, so don’t apologize.” Makoto sighs into her ear, and Sae’s mouth makes a tired smile. “What’s up?”

Makoto doesn’t answer right away. She speaks up again when Sae swipes her card. “How do you...” she begins before trailing off, voice so small like a raindrop. Sae halts in her trek and bites the inside of her cheek; she has no doubt Makoto is doing the same thing. “I went for a walk on the beach yesterday,” she starts instead.

Sae only hums at the sudden subject change. “Is the beach as nice as it looks? You’re in Hawaii after all.”

“Yes, it was beautiful. But, it’s... part of why I called you.”

“Spit it out, then.”

Makoto inhales sharply, and Sae frowns while weaving through the small onslaught coming out of a nearby train. “I asked Akira to go with me.” 

“I hope he didn’t do anything to you,” she replies with sculpted nonchalance, careful to not let her defensiveness cloud her ability to listen.

Makoto makes a sound of denial as Sae collapses on a bench by her platform. Her train would arrive in six minutes according to the schedule. “He was the same as always,” Makoto mutters, “and we had a nice time. I gave him this keychain, and we just talked about everything.” Sae straightens and blocks out the quiet roar surrounding her, tuning her ears to the frequency of Makoto’s voice. There’s a rustling as her sister shifts the phone. After a moment, she finally asks, “How do you deal with this?”

A train speeds past at another station. The phone chills her warm fingers. “It depends on what you want to do with this,” Sae replies, hoping Makoto can’t hear her uncertainty. It’s been years since she’s had to give any kind of personal life advice. “How _do_ you feel about Kurusu?”

“I think he’s one of the best people I’ve met,” Makoto answers without hesitation. Sae blinks at the conviction in her voice, an undeniable hope in her words. “He’s kind and funny and cool. I was fine before him, but he broadens my view on things. I’ve grown so much already from spending time with him.” Sae gulps when Makoto stops to ponder her next thought. “I mean, I don’t feel like this is a deal? Whenever he does something for me, he does it because he wants to, not because he needs me to be something. I can just... be myself. Only myself.”

Sae waits for Makoto to continue, but the other girl only huffs into the phone. Sae is still processing everything she just heard, and her mind spins at the sudden spin on who Kurusu Akira is, the trust Makoto has suddenly placed in her. She presses the phone further into her ear. “What do you want to be to him?”

Makoto laughs a little incredulously and confesses, “I don’t think I particularly care. I want to be there for him like he is for me.” Sae props an elbow on her knee and holds her face in her palm, glancing at the train schedule. Two minutes. “He’s just too good. He’s too good for me, Sis.” Sae hums, endeared by the love song in Makoto’s voice. “It doesn’t matter how he sees me. I want to give him the best in any way I can.”

Sae stands up, rocking on her heels while formulating a reply. “What do you want me to tell you, then?” she asks as she approaches the edge of the platform. “You answered your own question. Just use your feelings to give him what you got.” 

Makoto falls silent again; Sae rolls her shoulders to shrug off her nerves about fucking this up by saying the wrong things. “I want to be with him no matter what,” Makoto says. Sae almost melts into Niijima jelly. “Sorry for dumping that on you so late,” she whispers. “For once, I’m _really_ out of my depth. You’ve always been good at this.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m here to help,” Sae reassures. The telltale screech of metal on metal bounces off the tunnel walls and into the platform. “I’m about to get on the train. Do you want to talk more when I get home?”

“Um, sure? Sure,” Makoto answers hesitantly. Sae huffs out a laugh and shakes her head, tossing silver waves over her shoulder as the train’s lights come down, two gleaming pearls blinding the passerby. She says her goodbyes and collapses into her train seat; usually, she would take a quick power nap, but the call electrified her, keeping her up for the rest of the ride, the transfer, and the walk back home. 

Her phone buzzes in her pocket as she approaches the house. The sisters greet each other while Sae shoves her key into the door, toes off her shoes, and falls across the couch with work forgotten on the table. Makoto is in the middle of describing the shops she went to with Ann (Takamaki? Makoto only mentioned her last name once) when Sae blurts, “Tell me about your beach date.”

Makoto _squeaks_ , and Sae wrinkles her nose. “It wasn’t a _date_ , but it wasn’t... not a date. Does that make sense?” Sae hums in serious affirmation; she knows that all too well. She falls asleep listening to her baby sister explain the entire affair from setting to dialogue. 

She instinctively cringes a little at how utterly smitten Makoto sounds, but she doesn’t care to lecture her on it. They haven’t talked this much or this casually in a while.

A week later, Makoto comes home late, sweaty and fatigued from God knows what. Sae pops her head over the edge of the couch and stares Makoto down, but the other girl watches the floor instead. “Where were you?” she immediately asks. Makoto has been coming home late since August, but she still isn’t used to it.

Makoto meets her gaze as she sets her bag on the table, smiling softly, dreamily, like reality is warped. “I was just out in... Shibuya.” Sae raises an eyebrow and frowns, simultaneously typing away on her computer. “Sis,” Makoto calls out. Sae turns around again to find Makoto clasping her hands in front of her almost in prayer. She tucks chestnut behind her ear, and Dad’s smile splits her face in half, happiness bursting out of every pore. “I think we’re dating.”

Sae blinks and shuts her laptop with a _click_. Makoto’s eyes burn sharp with cinnamon fire as they slant upwards to accommodate her grin. Sae doesn’t know what to say, but she can only chuckle because truthfully, it isn’t surprising at all. “I knew it was going to happen,” she reveals as she walks over, trying to forget her work and redirect her focus.

A little emboldened and desperate to be casual, Sae presses a kiss into Makoto’s bangs and rubs a hand over her shoulder, squeezing to show that she’s present and wants to be. Makoto suppresses a yawn and tones down her blinding beam to a sleepy tilt of her lips. 

“It’s been a long day,” she laughs out. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.” Makoto makes it to the hallway before a soft vibration floats into the quiet, and she pulls out her phone. Sae watches her face carefully, Makoto’s eyes suddenly brightening as her fingers race across the keyboard. Another _bzzt_ comes in, and her lips curl into a sweet smile like swaying flowers.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Sae lectures before she can stop herself. Makoto perks up at her, much more awake than she was a few seconds ago, and nods. She disappears while she continues to type, grin growing with each incoming message.

So this is what Kurusu Akira does. Not bad.

* * *

Sae stops mid-sip when the doorbell rings, wine sour on her tongue and tension heavy on her body. She hears Makoto turn the stove off and scurry to the door, and Sae throws back her head to swallow the rest of her red poison in one gulp. “Don’t stress about anything, alright? We’re celebrating _you,_ ” Makoto reassures when she reaches the door, smiling over her shoulder, “and plus, you were the one who suggested this in the first place.”

Sae grimaces and mutters, “Don’t remind me. He should worry about himself.” She pours herself another drink and watches car lights sneak between the crack of the curtains. Her reflection swirls in her wine, bloody and shadowy and distorted. All she can think about is work, work, _work_ , how it gnaws at her stomach and digs its claws into her heart. The SIU is either lacking interns or faith in her abilities since they’re giving her such trivial tasks. She’s inexplicably stuck, and the more she thinks about it, the more she wonders if this fight is even worth it. Justice loses, loses, _loses_ time and time again; she’s been fucked by it too much.

Sae takes another few gulps and rubs her tired eyes. She doesn’t have any sympathy for herself; she knew this would happen if she drank. Maybe she’s just a masochist.

She briefly snaps out of her tipsy daze when the lock clicks, and the leftover wine rots in her mouth when she sees an unfamiliar silhouette against the October moon. “Hey, you’re early,” Makoto comments, smile infecting her words. Sae closes the wine bottle with clumsy fingers and drags herself up, bun falling into a ponytail and sweatpants dropping back down to her ankles. “Thank you for coming. We really appreciate it.” 

Kurusu beams at Makoto and pushes her bangs around. “Thanks for inviting me.” How _polite._ He looks over Makoto’s head, eyes widening when he catches Sae’s blazing glare, but he keeps his composure. He bows and holds out a gift bag, lips quirking up almost automatically. “Happy birthday, Niijima-san,” Kurusu chimes out in a little golden song, and Sae offers a tiny, tight smile. He bows again even more deeply once she takes the present; the motions are smooth, practiced, like he’s already done this a million times.

Makoto rubs Kurusu’s back to signal him to stand up. “Sis, this is Kurusu Akira,” she introduces unnecessarily. Kurusu grins, and their fingers naturally wander together of their own accord. Sae can’t help but let her eyes dart down to the movement, and their hands freeze. She told herself to be less intimidating for Makoto’s sake, but her gut weighs her down.

“Niijima Sae. I’ve heard plenty about you. Thank you for the gift.” Kurusu ensures that it wasn’t a problem, pushing up his glasses with a finger absentmindedly. Sae can’t get over how big they are. Maybe they’re fake. She spins on her heel and lets her feet slap against the wood, sliding into her seat at the table. After a few indiscernible whispers, the couple follows after her, Makoto splitting away to finish preparing dinner. 

Kurusu lingers around the table until Sae points him to the seat next to Makoto’s. She purses her lips as she watches him through her peripheral. She _must_ be a masochist since she willingly subjected herself to meeting the boyfriend on her birthday.

“I was his guinea pig.”

“ _No_ , you were my wonderful accomplice in the path to my barista career.” Makoto rolls her eyes in feigned annoyance but smiles anyways into her ramen, slurping up the noodles while watching Kurusu with starry eyes. Sae lost where this conversation was heading, but it had to do with Makoto taste-testing Kurusu’s coffee abominations. “I mean, it wasn’t completely bad. We were broadening your perspectives in a way.” Makoto beams mid-bite and nods in complete understanding, and Sae is suddenly lost all over again.

Kurusu moved from a much smaller seaside town on account of his probation, shot to the top of his class in a matter of weeks, and has a cat named Morgana. Throughout the dinner he keeps Makoto glowing, but he also laughs and smiles at the right times and compliments like it’s his sole purpose, a perfectly behaved boy for Sae to approve of. That’s what makes her skin crawl the most because everything comes _too_ naturally for him. She dated a guy like this several years back and left when she saw heartbreak coming, but she can’t be certain that Makoto would be the same way.

Sae eventually succumbs to temptation and goes to fetch more wine, but her ears naturally perk up to eavesdrop on the conversation at the table. “Hey, are you feeling okay?” Kurusu whispers.

Makoto makes a noise of acknowledgment, and Sae can hear her shaking her head. “I’m fine. I just... really have to pee.” Kurusu snickers before Makoto huffs; Sae glances over to see her sister punching his shoulder. “Don’t tease! I just didn’t want to leave you two alone.” _Ah._

“I’ll be fine,” Kurusu murmurs, velvet voice blending in with the wine flowing into Sae’s glass, “but I really appreciate it. You won’t be gone for long anyways.” Makoto sighs in resignation, but Kurusu speaks with a smile in his words and probably in his eyes. If he wasn’t wearing those _glasses_ , Sae would be able to see. She gulps down all of her ambrosia when Makoto’s chair scraps against the floor, signaling her leave.

A thick curtain of silence falls between them, the only noise being Kurusu as he slurps up more Niijima ramen. He talks first because _of course he does._ “Your sister is a great cook. This is so much better than anything I could ever make,” he compliments with a tinge of charming self-deprecation. 

“You should tell her yourself when she gets back,” she replies casually. Sae fills her glass with water instead and sips as she strides back to her seat, watching Kurusu over the rim. Kurusu’s smile shakes a little, the corner of his mouth twitching down for a split second, and Sae zooms in on the crack in his sculpted aura. The wine flowing in her veins makes her bolder and snippier, and her subconscious begs her to interrogate him. Sae has to remind herself that he’s in high school, and taking out her inner frustrations on him is, in fact, a shitty thing to do. “How did you and Makoto meet?” she settles on after a few more beats of quiet.

Kurusu sets down his chopsticks and clasps his hands behind his bowl. Without light obscuring his gaze, his black frames bring all focus to his eyes. “To be honest, she caught me on the school rooftop.” Sae falters for a second before Kurusu falls back into his chair, relaxing into a much more realistic boy. “I didn’t know it was off-limits. Definitely not the best first impression,” he continues again with the self-ridicule.

Sae runs a finger along the rim of her cup and smiles despite her skepticism of him. “I appreciate honesty,” she says out of nowhere. With her chin resting on laced fingers, she leans forward with the kindest expression she can muster and asks, “You know what’s coming, I assume?”

Kurusu puffs out a nervous laugh and rubs the back of his neck with his hand, eyes darting to the hallway when the toilet flushes. Sae gulps down half of her water in a last-minute sobering, but Kurusu interrupts her as she opens her mouth. “Niijima-san,” he blurts with wide eyes, “with all due respect, I’m not who you think I am. I’m not a delinquent with anger issues, and I–”

“Why are you so nervous?” Sae interrupts with a finger to shush him. Kurusu presses his mouth into a tight line, and Sae almost coos. His lashes flutter as his eyes flicker from her face to the table, and it’s so reminiscent of Akechi that she has to stop herself from coughing out a laugh of surprise, not when the kid is turning white with anxiety. 

When Kurusu closes his eyes and looks at her again, he looks a little more at peace. “I just want to make it clear that I really do care about Makoto.” Sae blinks in surprise and watches Kurusu’s shoulders fall as his mind wanders away from the room. “I’m serious about her. I want to be with her.”

_“I want to be with him no matter what.”_

Sae finds her mouth curling up, and she giggles with wine bubbling up into her brain. Kurusu’s eyes widen before his lips relax into a smile. Sae twirls a few noodles with her chopsticks as the bathroom sink comes on down the hallway. “I want to trust you for Makoto’s sake,” she reveals, “but nothing matters more than her safety. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself, but I don’t want any potential threats near her regardless.” Sae points a chopstick right between his eyes, and broth flicks off the plastic onto the table. “That includes you.”

Kurusu’s lips flatten as he nods in understanding, but Sae’s not finished, waving her utensil in front of his face as she continues. “I’m choosing to trust Makoto’s judgment over your case file, and personally, you’ve made a good impression on me.” The more Sae talks, the more she feels like a forty-year-old mom, not a young woman, and she winces internally. “However, if you drag her into _anything_ dangerous, this relationship is over. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts.” She meets Kurusu’s gaze and tries to look right at him rather than down on him. “Do you understand?”

Kurusu isn’t shrinking into his seat or clearly swallowing down his nerves. If anything, his eyes burn like shining mercury, and he nods hard like a soldier. “I won’t let either of you down,” he says with pride and conviction, and Sae hums in reply. Before he can keep talking, the telltale creaking of wood echoes into the dining room, and Makoto peeks around the wall.

Sae twists around to see Makoto’s nervous gaze, but her sister smiles calmly and slides into her seat with careful nonchalance. She watches Sae skeptically, but the woman throws back the rest of her water and crosses her legs. Makoto’s eyes wander over to Kurusu, and he places a hand on her shoulder. After a moment, she visibly relaxes, and Sae laughs. “I didn’t say anything you wouldn’t like.”

“You’re in a very good mood,” Makoto counters instead of acknowledging Sae’s comment, pushing away from the table and scurrying to the kitchen, “I guess we’ll have cake now!” Sae snickers into her empty glass when Makoto sticks her tongue at her. “Akira, you don’t mind dark chocolate, do you?” Makoto asks as she takes out the cake box.

“No, I’m not picky,” he replies as he leans onto the table, gaze following Makoto as she searches for candles. She looks over her shoulder at him and glows, and her eyes slant to accommodate her tiny smile. He’s watching her with a face that Sae recognizes from when she kissed her first boyfriend, quicksilver eyes gleaming while he watches in awe.

After Sae’s blown out her candles and cut the cake, Kurusu says he should be getting home when he notices the spotlight moon against the curtain of the night. Makoto and Sae walk him to the door together. He bows to Sae and wishes her another happy birthday, and Makoto squeezes his hand and kisses his cheek before he disappears into the city.

Since he’s finally gone, Sae gulps down the rest of the wine she put away earlier, and Makoto keeps her distracted. She even tries pulling out the dance game that Sae hasn’t seen since she was nineteen, but she pushes it away along with the dark thoughts swimming underneath her intoxication.

“He’s not all that bad,” Sae blurts when Makoto announces she’s heading to bed. She downs the last drop of scarlet and catches her sister by surprise in the middle of her yawn. “He clearly makes you happy, right?”

Makoto’s blush lies across her cheekbones, but she doesn’t hide behind her hair. Instead, she meets Sae’s gaze and nods with a grin. There’s something different about it; it’s not an infatuated smile. It’s one out of comfort and peace. “Absolutely, but I want you two to get along as well. I think you could learn a lot from one another,” she replies before clicking off the television.

Sae hums and nuzzles her face into the blanket she’s rolled into, vision blurring as her lashes make a patchy vignette. She wants to ask exactly what she could learn from someone like Kurusu, but the words come out as wine-stained mutters. Makoto sighs and kisses Sae’s temple, tucking the blanket into the crooks of her neck. 

“Happy birthday, Sis,” she whispers. Sae shuts her eyes while she drowns in warmth. She thinks she hears Makoto say something else under her breath, but she’s too tired to think anymore. She’s been thinking for far too long.

* * *

The hallway seems to grow longer as Sae continues to stomp away, knuckles white and nails digging deep into her palms as she stalks towards the interrogation room. Her bones threaten to break out from her skin and charge on without her, heart beating rapidly as she rereads the suspect’s name over and over in her head. How could she be so _stupid?_

A couple of men are lingering outside of the door, and Sae barely reigns in her expression and her speed as she approaches. The conversation flies in and out of her ears. She listens to them call her an inconvenience, listens to the SIU Director try and stop her from working on _her case,_ but Sae stands tall and brushes her hair away and gazes at the men through her lashes. Her fists begin to ache with tension and thinning patience.

“Your time will be cut short. We can’t permit you to talk with him for long,” an older detective warns her. “It’s for your own sake. His methods are unknown. After all, we don’t even know if it’s safe to simply meet and speak with him.”

Sae sets her jaw and stares at the man with dagger eyes. “I understand.”

When the door slams behind her, Sae hesitates before turning towards the table. Her anger comes back with a new burst of power topped with the sharp feeling of betrayal. She sets her bag down beside her chair and sinks onto the bony furniture, back pressed to metal bars. The silence is thick like it has been so many times before with other suspects, but this time, it’s heavier, an anvil on her chest that makes her eyes water. “I didn’t expect it’d be you,” she pushes out with tremendous effort. Her nails dig into her arm while she taps her heel impatiently against the concrete.

Kurusu Akira tilts his head up and meets her with a sad, slate stare, and Sae laughs incredulously, cold to her own ears with an anger she hasn’t felt in years. “Won’t let either of us down? Isn’t that what you told me, _Kurusu_?” Sae snaps. His surname poisons her mouth black, and she realizes that she’s not just angry at him. She’s scared for almost losing her sister to some _boy_ , a boy she knew was bad news in the first place _._ “You’ll be answering my questions this time.”

Kurusu’s swallow echoes in her ears, and his eyes screw shut while his lips peel back to reveal grinding teeth. Sae sees a discarded needle out of the corner of her eye and tsks under her breath. Kurusu’s face and wrists are dotted black and blue, a kaleidoscope of injuries, and she wonders if he’s coherent enough to understand her or even sense how _infuriated_ she is.

She’s about to retreat into professionalism because she can’t let her emotions control her now, not at such a pivotal moment in the case, when Kurusu croaks, “I’m sorry.”

After a beat — “I’m sorry, too, for trusting you with her wellbeing,” she retaliates so sharply that Kurusu flinches. 

Sae narrows her eyes and holds back hot tears. She wipes them quickly and starts pulling out case files from her bag; Kurusu watches quietly. Sae hopes he’s drowning in guilt. What a fucking _trickster._ “Our personal matters will just waste time, so I’ll get to the point. I need you to answer me honestly.”

Sae attempts to dissociate from the grief eating up her core and begins interrogating Kurusu, but everything he’s saying sounds like a steaming pile of _bullshit_. None of this exists, right? It’s just too implausible, like some plot out of a game. She can’t take him seriously. Everything about this interrogation is going so _wrong_.

She’s barely able to push away her seething reservations until he brings up the newest ally from the Kaneshiro case, a name that makes her freeze in place.

“What did you just say?” The words pull taut over her voice like skin over knuckles. Kurusu winces and stares up at her through his hair, eyes tired and bland and _criminal_ , and Sae stands up furiously, throwing her hands onto the table. “Don’t be ridiculous!” she yells, slamming her palms onto the metal again with a _klang_. “This new ally you gained was _Makoto_? Just tell me the truth!”

“You already know the truth,” Kurusu spits back, tears welling up on his waterline. _Pathetic_.

“That’s preposterous! If what you say is true, then... then was she running from the police too when you were arrested?!”

“Ask her yourself.”

Sae grips the edge of the table and lets the cheap metal edge cut into her skin as she shudders, connecting all the pieces from the summer together. How could she have been so blind?

Sae falls back into her chair and pinches her nose bridge, nails stabbing into the thin skin. Her vision turns red with so many emotions she can’t separate, and it’s like Dad dying all over again. She can’t believe she almost lost Makoto, too. “Did you put her up to it? Did you coerce her because you knew she cared-”

Kurusu shakes his head harshly. Sae can barely make his silhouette out through her new supply of tears. “I would _never_ do that, and you know that.”

“You’ve been under my nose this whole time, so no, I _don’t_ know.” Sae bites back. “Either you’re trying to confuse me with your lies, or everything you’ve been telling me is the truth.”

Kurusu lets out a shuddering breath, and Sae wipes away more tears, angry at her lack of professionalism but furious that she’s bound by her job to act that way. “We weren’t together when she helped us out. She helped because she wanted to fix Shujin, and she alone chose to do it,” he whispers, jumping almost imperceptibly when Sae jerks up. She can see the undeniable honesty in his eyes. “I have no reason to lie.” Kurusu pleads with his gaze. _Please believe me._

Sae briefly lets herself wonder what Dad would’ve done. His job was to arrest people, true, but he didn’t do it without reason; he didn’t arrest just for his own career prospects. Sae chews on her cheek and thinks that Dad might’ve done the same thing for Kurusu. A kid so young shouldn’t be subjected to a system that’s against them, he’d probably say. Then again, he already had been, hadn’t he?

Sae runs a hand through her hair and takes a few breaths to collect her thoughts. She can’t create a case with the way she’s been thinking this entire time. She has to start over and... and believe him, no matter how much she disagrees. “Very well. No... no matter how absurd it may seem, I’ll reevaluate my stance on believing you for now.” She punctuates her thought with a quick glare for good measure. “In return, you’ll swear you’ll speak nothing but the truth. Understand?”

After that, there’s a tangible connection that pulls them through the questions, a mutual understanding that somehow rose through. Sae’s still fucking pissed, still wanting to curl around Makoto and never let her out of her sight, but she reminds herself to roll with the punches and take Kurusu’s testimony as is. Every action he’s made and every word he’s said supports her intuition that he’s not a bad person, though her rationality is still rage-biased. They keep going through each major victim, and she listens to him tell stories about fighting in a metaverse, stealing treasures, and changing people so fundamentally they give themselves up to society. 

She can tell that the Phantom Thieves were trying to uphold justice in its purest form, and it reminds her of the conversations Makoto and Sae had about her job. Makoto wanted these victims caught because it would help society. In her eyes, justice would always find its way. Sae hadn’t thought like that for the longest time. If the Phantom Thieves had managed to steal her heart, would she think the way she did at the start of her career?

“I still can’t believe it, but now I have a general idea of the methods you used for your crimes,” Sae huffs out, looking over her notes to make sure she hit everything. There’s so much more she wants to know, and she scowls at the time limit that ties her hands behind her back. She glances up at Kurusu who’s still dazed from being drugged, and inklings of guilt rise through her subconscious anger. He’ll be sentenced to life imprisonment or death, probably.

She offers a deal to lighten his sentence if he gives up his teammates and accomplices, trying to squeeze out the last bits of this confession and save him, but he says no with little hesitation. In fact, he refuses to give out pretty much any information to answer her final questions, and Sae can’t help but throw up her hands. “I don’t even know what’s right anymore, and it’s all due to your strange story!” she cried out, attempting to quell her frustration once again. Just when she feels like she understands him, he loses her a little more. “God, why are you still trying?” she mutters absentmindedly.

“Because I want to be on the right side.” Sae perks up at Kurusu’s unexpected reply, and he sends her a sad smile. “I’d rather die being proud of who I am than live and hate myself.”

“Must be nice having the ability to say that,” Sae quietly replies, because she doesn’t know what else to say. She’s _not_ a teenage vigilante who can do whatever she wants; she still has a case to solve no matter what, and she has practically nothing on Kurusu nor the Phantom Thieves. 

Just when she’s about to ask her last question, Akira attempts to reach for her across the table. “Just because we didn’t change your heart doesn’t mean you can’t do that yourself.” Sae refuses to look him in the eyes and focuses on the blue-yellow webs on his hands. He sounds like her sister, Sae thinks, and she winces in anger. She didn’t think Makoto growing up meant becoming a criminal, and that certainly won’t happen to Sae.

“It’s not that easy. Things don’t just bend to my will-”

“They don’t have to. There are ways to break out from whatever box you’re in-” Sae frowns when Kurusu’s wet coughing cuts him off. She’s always hated how extreme the police goes with truth serum at times, especially now, but she kept brushing it off. She’s been brushing off everything she’s wanted to do from reforming the system to just winning cases because it’s the right thing to do. Nothing ever seemed to line up. Nothing seemed worth it. If she had the chance to change, she would take it.

“Is that something you taught Makoto?” she asks without thinking.

Kurusu shrugs weakly, breath tinny as he inhales. “I think we taught each other that together.” Sae laughs weakly and crosses her arms, watching Kurusu who seems to have more to say. He looks up at her with the most determined face he can muster, the same one he gave Sae on her birthday. “I want to make a deal with you.”

Sae’s eyes widen, and she panics internally because she knows this is opening another wormhole in this case. She listens to him explain the importance of the smartphone sitting on the table, listens to his orders for her to show the phone to the true culprit. She can’t even fathom what’s going on in Kurusu’s head. She nearly says no because she’s not done with him yet, because her rationality says she needs _more answers_.

But, for once, Sae wants to be idyllic again and put her dreams first. She knows this is that chance.

She sighs and nods tiredly, giving the faintest outline of a smile. “I’ve listened to your whole story, so I may as well play along to the end.”

Later, when she reconciles with the Phantom Thieves and listens to Makoto explain their whole plot, her voice fearless and impenetrable and her eyes burning with conviction, Sae knows she made the right choice. There’s a new fire in Makoto, one that changed her to be the woman she is now – and there’s a flame in Sae’s heart, too, ready to transform her.

* * *

“Long time no see.”

“Nice to see you too, Niijima-san,” Kurusu greets politely, a gentle smile pulling on his cheeks as Sae sits across from him. It really _has_ been so long; she hasn’t seen him since his arrest, and she’s been working to prosecute Shido Masayoshi in the time since.

Sae tells him the great news of Shido’s prosecution and the fact that Kurusu is free to go. Kurusu’s mouth drops open in shock as she explains how Shido’s confessions led to the truth of his case, and she grins when she gets to tell him of his newfound innocence. Sae’s still in disbelief herself over how well things have turned out since the end of the Phantom Thieves. Kurusu’s deal ended up being the opportunity she needed to turn her life around.

“Once the Shido case is settled, I’m thinking of quitting my job and becoming a defense lawyer. Going forward, I want to enact justice not for myself but for the sake of others.” Even saying it out loud gives Sae a sense of excitement and relief, a rush of passion for justice like the one she felt when she originally wanted to reform the system.

Kurusu smiles broadly and congratulates her, and Sae waves it off with a shy hand. “How are things with Makoto?” she asks, not wanting to bring life in jail.

Kurusu scratches the back of his head and collects his thoughts, and Sae rests her face on her hand. “It’s been going pretty well, I think,” he replies, and Sae sags into her chair. She remembers how much Makoto cried on Christmas Day. 

“She visits when she can, and we just talk and whatever. At first, she lectured me about my arrest, but it’s not like that anymore.” Sae chuckles imagining her sister scolding her boyfriend. “I just want to see her again outside of a cell,” Kurusu continues with a nervous laugh and a slight flush.

Sae hums and pretends to ponder for a second. “I _suppose_ you could visit every now and then,” she replies, and Kurusu laughs it off and bows his head in thanks. “You’re welcome any time. I think you taught us both how... how to live. It’s the least I can do.” Kurusu huffs in surprise and shakes his head, telling Sae she’s exaggerating.

They talk a little more about meaningless things when something shoves its way to the front of Sae’s brain. “Kurusu,” she starts, “you’re moving back next month, right?”

Kurusu’s thoughts look like they stop running in his head, and he glances down at the table and chews on his lip. He quietly nods and looks back up with suddenly teary eyes, and Sae gulps down guilt for bringing up a sensitive topic. Makoto briefly mentioned it last night with the exact same expression. “I’d say, make the most of your time here while you’ve got it,” Sae says to cut through the silence. “We’ve got your back.”

Kurusu nods and blinks back the wetness in his eyes, beaming with gratitude. “Thank you.”

The day Kurusu moves, Makoto comes back during the bluest hours of night, exhaustion leaking out of her as soon as she sits on the couch. Sae shuts her laptop with a quiet _click_ and sneaks over to join her; she probably didn’t even notice Sae when she came in. She sits next to Makoto and places a hand over hers, rubbing the top of it with her thumb. “How was your day?” She can’t see Makoto’s eyes behind her bangs.

Makoto licks her lips and leans back on the couch, sliding off her braided headband and tossing it onto the coffee table. Sae leans over to look her sister in the eyes and frowns when Makoto won’t meet her gaze. When Makoto looks up, her eyes are drowning in grief. “I-It was fine,” Makoto stutters out, playing with her fingers. Sae raises her hand to rub Makoto’s shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “We went to the beach since he lives on the coast, and... I met his parents. We all did. They’re a little fake, but he told me about that.”

Sae snickers at that and pulls Makoto in for a gentle hug, rubbing her hands on her back and letting Makoto nuzzle into her shoulder. She wants to ask more because that’s something she’s been trying to work on, reaching out more, but then, Makoto starts shuddering in her arms. Sae zips her lips and pulls Makoto closer, dropping a kiss on Makoto’s head as she cries. “I’m scared, Sis,” Makoto whispers into her shoulder, voice dripping with heartbreak, and Sae squeezes her even tighter. “I know we’re going to be fine, I-I’m just scared because I don’t know what I’m doing, and-”

“You guys are stronger than you think,” Sae interrupts. “You’re going to be fine, and you _know_ that. I know you know that.” 

Makoto chews on her lip and screws her eyes shut, tears squeezing through the creases, and Sae’s heart twists. Makoto pulls away and curls in on herself, twisting around the tiny heart ring around her finger and looking so far from the strong woman Sae knows she’s become. Sae looks back at the television and lights up when she sees the ancient box sitting next to it. She blows off the dust and undoes the cardboard flaps, pulling out a familiar game without hesitation. “Hey Makoto,” she asks after a few moments, squatting in front of her sister and holding the game in front of her face, “wanna dance?”

Makoto glances at Sae over her folded arms and blinks in surprise, her tears clearing up as they weave into her lashes. Sae wiggles her eyebrows and smiles sympathetically; after a beat of silence, Makoto nods ever so slightly. Sae’s smile grows as she hops up to put the game in the console. “I’m going to beat you this time,” she declares, sending Makoto a competitive gaze.

Makoto sniffles but manages to give Sae the shyest smile back. “You’re not the one who jumped around Palaces all the time, but we’ll see.”

* * *

The bell rings over the door of Leblanc as Sae enters, phone wedged between her shoulder and her cheek. “Tell Makoto I say ‘hi,’ okay? And that I’d rather see her than work on another one of these cases,” Ryouta says into the receiver. Sae hums in reply and waves a quick hand at Sojiro before sitting in one of the crimson booths.

“I will, I will. There’s probably a lot to talk about since she just got a new job,” Sae reassures, nodding at Sojiro for her normal order. It’s been a while since her last visit, but she’s able to come more since her switch to defense. The bell over the door rings again, and Sae can’t stop a grin from blossoming across her face.

Makoto finds her immediately and beams with Dad’s smile, approaching Sae once she’s hung up and wrapping her in a tight hug. It’s been too long since they’ve last seen each other, but it figures that the Niijimas would both be busy adults. They slide back into the booth with ease, and Sojiro comes over with Sae’s drink in hand. “Long time, no see, Makoto, and a pleasure to see you too, Sae,” he chuckles as he saunters back to the counter. “How’s Akira? He told me he was too busy this week to stop by.”

Makoto’s cheeks flush when he brings up Akira’s name, and Sae eyes her with curiosity. “It’s his last year of college and he’s already swamped with work, but he told me that he’ll try to make it soon,” she explains, undoing her trench coat and hanging it over her shoulders. Sojiro nods in understanding and turns back to making Makoto’s usual order.

The Niijimas catch up with each other over coffee and curry at least once a month, but Makoto had to skip the last one now that she’s starting as a police officer fresh from graduation. Sae knows all too well the feeling of starting from the bottom, but Makoto’s eyes burn with passion when she talks about her job. She’s more like Dad every single day.

Akira’s on his way to getting his bachelor’s and hopes to be a teacher, but Makoto says that could most definitely change. “Are you guys getting along well? I know rent can be a pain in the ass, and I can still help you out if you guys need,” Sae offers.

Makoto waves her off as she sips her coffee. “I have all the money left over from college savings, and Akira has some leftover too since he got more scholarships this year. Don’t worry about us, alright?” Sae rolls her eyes but nods, and Makoto laughs in reply. Her sister is twenty-three and fully capable of adulting — Sae just forgets that a lot.

Makoto brings her mug up again to drink the last strong punches of espresso, and Sae narrows in on the gleam on her sister’s ring finger. “ _What’s that?_ ” she asks abruptly, snatching Makoto’s hand, mug and all. Makoto jumps in her seat as Sae sets the mug aside, eyeing the thin gold band and the little diamond throned in the middle. Sae’s jaw drops as she brings Makoto’s hand right up to her nose. “Were you even going to bring this up?”

“I was, but I wasn’t sure how to,” she replies, laughing nervously and relaxing as Sae lowers her hand back onto the table. Makoto’s smile grows even wider, her eyes slanting up even higher than usual, and she stares at her own ring with disbelief. “We both had a day off last week and just went everywhere from our favorite shrine to this one bar in Shibuya, the one where he asked me out, and he... did it. I’m still really, _really_ shocked. Really fucking shocked.”

Sae’s mouth is still open in disbelief when Makoto blinks up at her innocently, and for a second, she looks eight-years-old again with stars in her eyes. “I don’t think the wedding will be for a long time, not until we have enough money, but... I’d love to have your help in planning it. I really want you to be a part of it.”

Sae can’t process _any_ of this, and Makoto pulls back her hand. “You can still say no, but this... this feels really right. It feels great, and it was just a matter of time. I feel ready, actually,” she rambles for a bit, switching to playing with her hair. It’s longer now, hitting her shoulders. She still wears that fake braid, though.

Sae rubs her hands together and cups her mug, trying to collect her thoughts well enough to formulate a reply. Part of her wants to tell Makoto that she’s too young to get married, not when she’s getting to the meat of being an adult, and if Sae was twenty-four again, she’d probably say just as much. But, it’s been five years, and things have changed.

“Of course I’ll do it, as if I’d say no,” Sae laughs out incredulously, shaking her head at her sister’s inkling of doubt. She reaches over the table and holds Makoto’s hands so tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t wait to start.”

Makoto’s eyes water and she reaches up to wipe at them, and she fidgets in her seat excitedly. “I will, but enough about me! How’s Ryouta doing?” Sae laughs again and plays along, teasing Makoto every now and then about the jewel on her finger, because how could she drop the fact that her sister’s _engaged_?

* * *

“I can’t stop crying, holy shit,” Sae sputters out as she watches Makoto and Akira glide across the dance floor, her sister draped in sleek satin and her _brother-in-law_ in a tight tuxedo. Ryouta pulls Sae into him and kisses her hair, rubbing her shoulder in time with the waltzing music.

Akira stares down at Makoto with so much adoration, Sae can’t put a name to it. “Thank God he ditched those fake glasses,” Ryouta whispers in an attempt to make Sae laugh; she snickers wetly and pulls at her eyes, letting Ryouta embrace her. “It’s beautiful, though, don’t you think?”

Sae nods and pulls away from him, brushing rogue hairs behind her ears. “It is, she’s so beautiful, and... so strong. So happy.” Sae looks over at Ryouta and huffs in laughter at his cheeky grin and sparkling gaze. “I wouldn’t have wanted her with anyone else.”

Ryouta sends her a look and nudges her shoulder. “Maybe you’re saying that since he actually listened, and they a few years before doing the big-ass ceremony like you asked.” Sae tsks and nudges him back, turning to watch her sister again. She can see a table of the old Phantom Thieves nearby, all grown up but still the same in her eyes. 

Takamaki, Okumura, and Sakura are huddled together with tears in their eyes while Sakamoto and Kitagawa sit a little further away from the rest of them, gazes still just as watery. Morgana’s there, too, a bit fatter than she remembers, and wearing a tiny bow tie and watching the pair from Takamaki’s lap.

Makoto glides across the floor like a fairy-lit by the moon, a moving sculpture with planets in her irises. The music slowly comes to a close, and Akira seals the moment with a quiet kiss, hugging Makoto tightly around her waist. The guests all applaud, and Sae blinks back more tears when she sees Dad’s smile appear on the bride.

When the song finally ends, the couple intertwines their fingers and call out, “The floor’s open!” with their free hands cupped around their mouths. The beat suddenly changes, and an onslaught of family and friends floods the floor. The Thieves immediately beeline for Makoto and Akira, and Takamaki embraces them both with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Ryouta takes Sae’s hand and beams down at her, silently inviting her out with a tilt of his head. As Sae stands up, she catches Makoto breaking away from her _husband_ , weaving through the crowd until she finds Sae. “Can I steal her away for a few?” she asks out of pure courtesy, already pulling Sae with a linked arm. Ryouta laughs and nods, slipping in a congratulation along the way, and Makoto whisks Sae away.

Makoto grabs Sae’s hands and begins bopping along to the music, grinning at Sae with sparkling eyes. Something warm and pleasant settles in Sae’s stomach, the feeling she gets after eating a hot bowl of her favorite ramen or when Makoto and her will play that old dance game when she has the time to visit. She knows that Dad is smiling down at them.

Makoto nudges Sae with her shoulder to get her moving along to the music, and Sae laughs out a song of joy when Makoto nags her. Little sisters never wait, after all.

“Sis, let’s dance!”

**Author's Note:**

> i started this with the wedding as my endgoal and this exact ending line and im SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR THAT!!! i hope u enjoyed this read, and i thank u so much for opening it in the first place. it truly warms my heart, and i'm so glad that ppl like u enjoy my work :)) apologies for any typos!!
> 
> leave a kudos or comment if u so please!! i don't keep up w/ my tg or lis tumblrs anymore but i am matchafields on there :) i hope u have a wonderful morning/afternoon/night!! xoxo gab <3


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